An activist faces up to three years in prison for sending abortion drugs to Poland, where the procedure is illegal except in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother, Vice World News reported.
The woman, 47-year-old Justyna Wydrzyńska, is a doula and one of the founders of the Abortion Dream Team, which provides education and support to people seeking abortions in Poland.
The organization has avoided legal trouble in the past by working through the European network Abortion Without Borders, which can send pills to women in Poland from outside the country.
But when Wydrzyńska heard from a “desperate” anonymous woman in Poland who said her abusive husband was preventing her from accessing the procedure, Wydrzyńska said she had no choice but to send her pills from her personal stash.
“Her story touched my heart as I had a similar experience,” Wydrzyńska said, according to Amnesty International. “I felt I had to help her.”
While Wydrzyńska told Vice that the woman was never able to take the pills, but had a miscarriage due to the stress of the situation, the woman’s husband found Wydrzyńska’s contact information on the package and called the police.
A year later, he was accused of “aiding abortion” and “possession of medicines without a license with the intention of placing them on the market”. Her case, which will be heard on Thursday, is the first in Europe to prosecute an activist for providing abortion pills. He faces up to three years in prison.
But Wydrzyńska has not lost her determination. “We shouldn’t be afraid of what could happen even if I actually go to jail,” he told Vice. “We have to do our job no matter what. Because if we don’t, who will?”
The case could signal what is to come in the US
Activists and doctors fear the case could be a harbinger of what’s to come in the post-Roe US. Texas, for example, already allows individuals to file civil lawsuits against anyone who helps someone else access the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. Other states are following suit. Wydrzyńska’s case is “a reminder that our rights to life, health, physical integrity and autonomy cannot be taken for granted,” Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard said in a statement. The organization called for Wydrzyńska’s charges to be dropped, saying it sets a dangerous precedent in Poland and “a chilling message to other governments that seek to restrict the activities of abortion rights activists who fight for bodily autonomy and the right to access safe abortions ». “No one should be criminalized, let alone prosecuted, for helping someone get a safe abortion,” Callamard added. “Around the world, the ban on safe abortion kills thousands of women and girls every year.”
